Friday morning news: May 19, 2023

G7 » Leaders of the world's most powerful democracies are gathered in Japan for Group of Seven—or G7 meetings this week.

FUMIO KISHIDA: [Speaking Japanese]

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida opened the summit with a face-to-face meeting with President Biden .

Kishida said the Japan-U.S. alliance “is the very foundation of peace and security” in the Indo-Pacific region, a major focus of the talks.

G7 leaders are expected to discuss China’s military buildup and growing aggression in the region.

Also high on the agenda: the war in Ukraine.

JOE BIDEN: We stand up for the shared values, including supporting the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereign territory and holding Russia accountable for its brutal aggression.

The White House said enforcing sanctions against Moscow would be a top priority.

Ukraine » Meanwhile, in Ukraine one person is dead and two more are wounded after a Russian missile attack yesterday. Ukraine’s air defense system destroyed 29 out of 30 rockets. The missile that snuck through struck an industrial complex in Odessa.

Pentagon Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh:

SABRINA SINGH - Our priority has been giving Ukraine the air defense systems that they need, and also their other priorities include armor and artillery.

Ukrainian armed forces said yesterday that it had endured more than a dozen missile attacks in the previous 24 hours.

FBI whistleblower hearing » Lawmakers on Capitol Hill heard from several witnesses Thursday whom Republicans called FBI whistleblowers.

Former special agent Steve Friend said the bureau strayed from its own guidelines when investigating pro-life and religious groups, among others. And he said in his view that:

STEVE FRIEND: Could have undermined potentially righteous prosecutions and may have been part of an effort to inflate the FBI’s statistics on domestic extremism.

He also said the FBI may have inflated the threat posed by parents raising concerns at school board meetings.

Witnesses also said the bureau retaliated against them when they raised concerns. The FBI denies that.

Democrats on the panel derided the proceedings a Republican attempt to discredit the bureau.

SCOTUS » The Supreme Court sidestepped a chance to address a statute that shields internet platforms’ from liability over content their users post. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: In two cases yesterday, the court sided with major tech companies, but declined to address Section 230. That’s a federal statute from 1996 that says internet platforms are not liable for content posted by users.

Legal experts thought the court might revise the statute.

Instead, the justices ruled in favor of Google, Facebook, and Twitter for other reasons saying the platforms did not aid and abet in multiple terrorist attacks overseas.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

WalMart/Inflation » The nation’s largest retailer is reporting strong returns even in a rough retail environment.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said sales grew globally in the first quarter.

DOUG McMILLON: Profit grew must faster than sales and we made further progress on inventory levels.

The low-price retailer may be benefitting from cost-conscious shoppers as prices soar.

McMILLON: In the dry groceries and consumable categories like paper goods, we continue to see high single digit to low double digit cost inflation.

But McMillon said there is no doubt that persistently higher prices are weighing heavily on Walmart customers.

Airbag danger »U.S. regulators say millions of drivers may be at risk from a rare but dangerous airbag blast. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns that 67 million airbags could explode so powerfully as to blow apart a metal canister, spewing shrapnel.

And the agency is demanding that the manufacturer, ARC Automotive, recall the inflators citing two deaths and at least seven injuries.

But the Tennessee-based company says there is no safety defect. It is fighting the recall setting up a possible court battle.

In the meantime, GM is recalling nearly 1 million of its vehicles with ARC inflators including certain SUVs from model years 2014 through 2017.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday—this time considering race, violence, and reparations. Plus, Word Play with George Grant.

This is The World and Everything in It.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.